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@uiten {tats/5 atut @fitte CHARLES L. STEVENS, OF GALESBURG, lLLlNQlS, ASSIGNOR T0 HIMSELF AND ALBERT A. BENTON, OE SAME'PLACE. l

Letters Patent No. 76,264, dated llfmieh 31, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM WATER-ELEVTORS.

TO A-LL WHOM IT MAY-OONOERN:

Be it known that I, CHARLES lL. STEVENS, of the city of Galesburg, in the county of Knox. and State of Illinois, have'invented a new and useful Improvement in Steam-Vacuum Water-Elevators; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description of the construction and operation of the same,

"reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a'side view of the tank and locomotive as the locomotive-tender is being filled from tank.

Figure 2'is'a back or end view of same, showingthe connections of the pipes.

Figure 3 is a top" view of the tank.

Figure 4 is a vertical section of the tank as indicated by the line afg of iig. 3.

Like letters in the diiferent gures of the drawings indicate like parts.

Thenature of my invention consists in the construction of a wooden air-tight tank, for elevating water by steam, with the requiredstrength to endure atmospheric and steam pressure, by means of iron bolts and battens. 'which support the tank outwardly and prevent liability of bursting, and of Wooden casings over the iron bolts supporting-the ends of tank inwardly; the Wooden casin'gs also 'preventing the steam from coming in contact with the metallic bolts, and thus condensation is avoided, and a complete air-tight non-condensing tank and steam water-elevatorvis secured at less than one-fourth the cost of tanks for this purpose made entirely of iron, or ofthose made of iron and lined with wood.

To enableany one -skilled in the art to make and usemy invention, will proceed to describe itscenstructicn and operation. Y

' Construction.

I construct a tank, A, of Wood or other non-condensing material, the sides of which are circular, and are made of stares of any required thickness and Width. The endsare made of planks, of suitable thickness and Width, and are supported and strengthened by the battens a a a,`(see fig. 3,) and the iron bolts c c c c pass through the heads or ends of the tank, and are properly secured by nuts cl cl d d, (see iig, 4L.) Wooden casings e e e e are placed over theiron bolts (see iig.` 4) to prevent the steam from coming in contact with the metal, and thus avoiding condensation. And these casings are made with shoulders or square straight ends, so as to support the ends or heads of the tank against the atmospheric pressure, and suitable packing may be placed between the ends of vthe casings and the heads of the tank to render it entirely steam and air-tight. The ends of the tank are made` to lit neatly inside the sides thereof, and, by the bolts and nuts, are screwed to and securely held against the ends or shoulders of the wooden casings, or the ends ofthe tank may he gro'oved into the sides, and suitable packing may be used to render it perfectly air and steam-tight, but if made to fit neatly, as above named, the grooving` and packing will not be required.

B is a water-pipe, connecting with the riell or oistern, and with thev tank at the top, the end of said pipe passing through the top of the tank.

D is a steam-pipe, leading 'from the boiler to the tank, passing through the top of the tank, and the end turned up, so as to discharge the steam up against the top.

E is a discharge-pipe, connected with the tank through the bottoni thereof.

The sides of' the tank are supported and strengthened externally by iron` hoops, which may he of any required thickness and width in proportion to the size and capacity required, and the diameter of the tank should be about three times the height, so as to make the distance that the water is to be elevated as small as practi cable, and it may be placed entirely under ground, beyond the reach of frost. i

Operation.

The-steam is introduced through the steam-pipe D, and is discharged up against the tcp of the tank, and the pressure is thus so distributed and communicated to the float C, as that the steam does not come in Contact with the water, and thus condensation is preven'ted, and the pressure of the steam thus upon the float forces the water from the tank through the pipe .E into the locomotive-tender, or tank, or other vessel, as required. The

capacity.

water and air being thus forced out of the tank by the'steam, and the tank closed bythe action of proper valves,' a vacuum is formed almost immediately by the steam commencing tjo cool and to condense, and immediately the water commences to ow into the tank through the pipe B, and is thrown upon the bottom of the tank, produlcing spray, which facilitates the condensation ofthe steam, andin a few seconds the tank will thus be filled,

ready to be ejected, as above described. l

I amaware that metallic air-tight tanks have been used heretofore for this purpose, but nonf, made entirely of wood, or other non-condensing-materials, and the rapidcondensation of the steam, in" coming in contact with the cold metal-has rendered the metallic tanks almost impracticable, owing. to the great consumption of steam and the time-required in ejecting the lwater. I have completely overcome this great lilculty by constructing the tank of wood, or other non-condensing material, and by providing the same with a float of the same material, and have fully demonstrated the same by numerous experiments, both with the iron and wooden tanks. The water could not-be expelled from the iron tank, eilen with a heavy pressure of steam, until the water therein was heated sufficiently (that is, was boiling hot) to cause condensation in. the tank to cease. But with the woodeny tank there is no counteraction by condensation, and the' full force of the steam is brought to bear upon the oat,`ejecting and elevating the water within a time and to a height in proportion to the pressure of the steam. The time required, for example, in filling the tank of a locomotive-tender is only-about one-fourth the time now required to fill the same tank with the present arrangement used' for that purpose on railroads, and the steamA consumed is not more than is ordinarily blown oft' while lthe'locom'otive is standing.

Tanks made of iron, and lined with \voof1,:1re notas perfect non-contlcnsers, and cost much more than those made entirely of Wood, according to my plan. v

There is no serious dilculty in making wooden tanks of suiiicient strength to support all required pressure, as has been fully demonstrated by experiments with a tank, constructed as described, ot' fort'y-five barrels The water was drawn about twenty-tive feet, and the tank lled in a few seconds, and the whole 'quantity ejected in about one minute, elevating it about eight and a halt' feet, and throwing it about one'hundred feet,.without the slightest perceptible injury to the tank. v

v Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new,'and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i l (H az'm.

The construction of a. wooden air-tight tank, strengthened and supported with theiron bolts, battens,

and .wooden casings, substantiallyliu the manner and for the purpose as herein set forth.

CHAS. L. STEVENS,

Witnesses:

W. BURRIS, JAMES E.' FITCH. 

